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It’s hard to turn on the news today and not find a story on critical race theory in our schools. Many have written extensively on the application of this rubric to public education.
Where does this new awakening come from? Did local school boards suddenly have some sort of racial epiphany and decide en masse to start reworking their cultures?
Of course not. While schools in Virginia remain nominally under local control, the Virginia Department of Education is responsible for setting standards for the entire Commonwealth. Richmond sets the tone and the locals must dance.
And in Virginia, it started when Ralph Northam decided he didn’t want to make history as a governor in a Klan hood or blackface.
How it started
The first real clues to the fairness shift emerged in February 2019, in the days following Ralph Northams’ infamous press conference on the moonwalk. Superintendent of Public Education James Lane sent out a memo listing resources to support student and community dialogues on racism, aka Memo # 050-19.
My office will email Superintendents with further details on our previously scheduled #EdEquityVA webinar series in the near future. The webinar series is designed to deploy resources, facilitate discourse, and share strategies that promote and advance equity outcomes for all students in Virginia.
Lane has included a useful playlist, including:
White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo Anti-racist educator Robin DiAngelo sheds light on the phenomenon of white fragility. Referring to the defensive moves whites make when racially challenged, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear and guilt, and by behaviors such as argumentation and silence.
Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education, by Edward Taylor, David Gillborn and Gloria Ladson-Billings The emergence of Critical Race Theory (CRT) marked an important point in the history of racial politics in the legal academy and the broader conversation about race and racism in the United States. More recently, the CRT has proven to be an important analytical tool in the field of education, providing critical perspectives on race, causes, consequences and manifestations of race, racism, inequalities and dynamics. of power and privilege at school.
Ralph takes note
In April, Governor Northam and Education Secretary Atif Qarni announced Virginia is for Learners a web portal that would highlight their efforts to transform Virginia’s education system.
Much of the announcement consists of standard education reform: improvements in standards, more education earlier for more children, etc. But the document does refer to equity, including the introduction of equity measures in the accreditation of schools.
The final point, titled Maximizing the Potential of All Students, gives the first real clues to what the Northams team had in store (emphasis added):
“Education is our most effective tool in reducing poverty, fighting racism and supporting the economic progress of all Virginians. The Commonwealth is committed to making sure that students and families in Virginia, regardless of race, economic background or languages they speak at home, feel welcome in their schools. The Virginia Department of Education will continue to focus on the changing needs of its diverse student body, recognizing that there are currently significant gaps in achievement. Our commitment is to ensure that the Commonwealth’s public education system is able to achieve equitable academic outcomes for all students. ”
Under Qarnis’ leadership, the Education Ministry took the ball and ran with it, crafting what would become the #EdEquity Roadmap, a document that in its preface reveals the whole game.
But for too long, students in our communities of color and especially African American students have faced systemic racism in our public schools.
The document thanks many opinion leaders for their influence on the project, including Ibram X. Kendi, the well-known author of How to be anti-racist.
What is anti-racism? A belief that there is no one who is not a racist. All of them are either racist or anti-racist. Anti-racists accept that there is pervasive, structural and systemic racism in the United States, distinct from individual actions and beliefs. To be anti-racist, you have to be perpetually aware of the race and your own interactions with it.
Critical Race Theory shares the same view on institutions – that they are inherently flawed, and that America itself is hopelessly racist. Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education continue to be posted on the Department of Education website as suggested reading regarding: #EdEquity.
The checklists on the back of the document are revealing. For example, the anti-racism checklist begins with this item:
Anti-racism recognizes that racist beliefs and structures are pervasive in all aspects of our lives and requires action to dismantle these beliefs and structures. It requires school leaders to hold educators and students accountable when they say and do things that make school unsafe, and dismantle systems that perpetuate inequitable access to opportunities and outcomes for students historically. marginalized by race.
#EdEquity hits its stride
From there, the #EdEquity initiative took on a life of its own, with webinars, materials and more. The Department of Education has posted its webinars on YouTube, including those on Anti-Racism 101 and Becoming an Anti-racist Education Leader, in which presenters talk about Interrogating Whiteness and the fact that the United States was founded on white supremacy.
White fragility plays a big role in the rubric. If white people say they are not racist, they are simply denying the truth because of their inherent racism. And if they are offended by the charge of racism, it is simply further evidence of their racist attitudes. Kafka couldn’t do better.
Governor Northam himself appeared via Zoom at the #EdEquity 2020 Virtual Summit and spoke about the need to create anti-racist school communities.
The 2021 Summit, which wrapped up this week, featured Dr Wendi Manuel-Scott, who teaches Critical Race Studies at George Mason University, which draws on theoretical frameworks including critical theory. of race and the theory of intersectionality to examine the structural roots of racism.
Other speakers included Dr Khalifa Muhammad and Dr Ghouldy Mohammed, both of whom research and publish on critical breed theory.
Conclusion
In conclusion, what we are seeing today across Virginia is not a local initiative, but the end result of a deliberate result of a downward push to make our schools more awake.
Because Ralph Northam didn’t want to be known as the racist governor of the Klan Quarter.
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